Dr Emmanuel Akabe, Deputy Governor of Nasarawa State, said on Thursday in Lafia, that 15 persons had died from COVID-19, complications in the state since the outbreak of the pandemic.
Mr Akabe who is also the chairman of the state COVID-19 taskforce, spoke at the meeting of the taskforce.
The deputy governor said that as at Dec. 22, the state had 668 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 15 deaths.
He, however, said that over 600 cases were successfully treated and discharged after their results turned out negative.
He explained that the virus was killing people irrespective of their status in society, hence the need for everybody to observe safety protocols to curtail further spread of the virus.
He announced that Dr Rebecca Umaru, former Provost of College of Education, Akwanga, died of the virus on Monday, Dec. 21.
He also explained that Janet Angbazo, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, also tested positive for the virus.
“Even a member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) serving in Lafia tested positive,”
According to him, the second wave of the pandemic is worrisome as the virus has become more violent than the previous one.
He said that from statistics available to the government, even younger people are now vulnerable to the virus.
The deputy governor appealed to members of the public to always wear their face masks, maintain social distancing and wash their hands regularly to curtail the spread of the virus.
NAN
